


Stormcaller

by Liniel



Series: The Norrath Saga [12]
Category: EverQuest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-24 18:29:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20363101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liniel/pseuds/Liniel





	1. Stormcaller part 1

Maewyn touched the amulet dangling from a chain around her neck. She could hear voices coming from it, the voices of her warriors - some familiar, and others new to her. As of late Xavros had taken command of the troops, while she herself had devoted herself to handling negotiations and business transactions. Her thoughts lingered on him while the cold of night seeped through her clothes, making her skin prickle. He was doing well, she mused. He would cope, during her absence. 

Her breath turned to frosty mist, ice crystals glittering on her lips like tiny stars fallen from the skies to adorn her. She was squatting down, her one hand on the ground for support while the other closed around the amulet. With a twitch of the hand she snapped the chain, tucking the amulet in her belt pouch. Tonight, she was just Maewyn.

The forest seemed to close in on her, as if the trees themselves opposed her presence. She breathed a sigh. That unruly feeling that had been festering in her heart, in her soul, grew stronger here where bone dust and ashes fed the soil and the air itself seemed thick with memories of death. 

Fractured clouds drifted across the velvety sky, veiling the stars - but to her sensitive vampire eyes, the faint light was more than enough. Briefly, she closed her eyes tightly, listening to the earth rumble and the stormy winds raging in the darkest corners of her mind. She forced herself to breathe slowly, to find her calm before she continued. 

So many lives lost. How many more had been swallowed by earth and sea, how many had been torn from life by furious winds clawing at the face of Norrath while the world came crashing down? Did anyone even remember them? 

\- YOU REMEMBER -

Her eyes snapped open. The voice rung clear into her very core, yet no one was to be seen. It was the wind whispering to the leaves, the soft rustling of clouds nudging each other. It was darkness crawling across shriveled leaves and withered grass, slithering fingers yearning to touch her. 

She cursed. "Dispel!" The freeblood arose in one swift movement, flinging out a hand to send a bolt of energy towards shadows gathering to her right. A soft laughter wrapped around her as darkness dispersed into fluttering moths, their wings fringed and heads hairy as they swarmed around her head. Maewyn growled in the back of her throat, holding her arm up to shield her eyes. "...Innoruuk's wrath! Enough! Enough with these childish games and tricks." 

\- IT WAS NOT HIS WRATH THAT RIPPED OPEN THE EARTH -

The voice was deep, dark, the sheer power of it making her skin crawl. The moths vanished and silence fell over the opening in the forest, like a thick blanket. Maewyn lowered her arm, unseeing eyes witnessing events long lost in the depths of her mind.

\- IT WAS NOT HIS WRATH THAT CALLED THE STORMS -

Clouds parted to allow the silky light of a single star to flow unto the ground, illuminating a passage up the rocky, steep hillside. 

It was time. 

She took a deep breath, then began her climb.


	2. Stormcaller part 2

She tumbled through an abyss of darkness, a black pit of despair deep within the mountain. The crevice closed high up above her head, leaving her alone in the eternal night of damp caverns and the maze of tunnels and caves extending beneath the surface of the world. 

The cavern floor rushed towards her. Leiwyn smiled slightly, using her innate ability to levitate to slow down her fall until she hovered inches above the wet, slippery cave floor. The faint, luminescent light emitting from fungi growing on the rocks was enough for her keen eyes to make out her surroundings. The chamber extended beyond what she could perceive, the far end walls veiled in shadows and darkness and its ceiling arching away above her head. The feeling of utter isolation weighed heavily on her soul and she wondered if there was a way out, or if she had come to the end of her road.

She picked up on a scraping sound far behind her, and turned around to find herself facing nothing but the stifling air and droplets of water dripping from stalactites to form towering stalagmites on the cavern floor. "I am losing my mind."

\- YOU ARE LOSING YOUR WAY -

The voice spoke matter-of-factly, the sound bouncing off the walls. Maewyn listened to the echo rolling through tunnels to eventually fade away. "I may have vanished from the surface of the world, but I am not lost. I am here. That's always something."

\- YOU HAVE STRAYED - the voice lashed out.

She frowned, scanning the cavern once more to get a visual and tie a face to that voice, annoyed at being forced to play these silly games. "Who are you? Why have you brought me here? " Her voice fell flat to the ground, swallowed by the darkness. There was a moment of utter and complete silence, when the mountain itself seemed to hold its breath before it roared a reply, its echo bellowing through the network of tunnels.

\- WHO ARE YOU –

"I am--..." She began to speak but the voice boomed, cutting her short.

\- YOU ARE NOTHING - NO ONE - A CHILD, PLAYING WITH FORCES BEYOND HER COMPREHENSION, BEYOND WHAT ANY MORTAL CAN PERCEIVE -

A spark of furious defiance ignited within her heart, and it flared up into a roaring fire of arrogance and pride. She raised her chin, the cold fires of Hate dancing in her eyes as she faced the shadows gathering before her. "Thunder." There was a crackling sound as Leiwyn drew power from her core and the very air around her. Sparks of raw energy formed a protective barrier around her, a swirling vortex of power - and in its midst, Maewyn was a vision of regal splendor and unearthly beauty, pure and blazing.   
She flung out her hand, channeling the powers of lightning as she shot a bolt of thunder towards her adversary. The shadowed form drew the energy into itself, its laugh echoing through the cavern and her mind. 

\- INSOLENT FOOL - DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND THE POWERS YOU WIELD -

The earth started to rumble. It began as a low growl deep beneath her, as if the very roots of the mountain turned and twisted in agony, sending a ripple through the masses of rock and soil. Suddenly Maewyn's levitation spell was dispelled and she dropped to the cave floor, kneeling down on one leg. 

The ground began to shake, and small pebbles fell from the ceiling. Leiwyn threw up her arms to shield her head, as larger rocks and stones broke free and came crashing down. "Shield!" The spell fizzled, her voice drowning in the rumbling noise. The ground heaved and shuddered, and she could feel the rippling spread through her body and soul from the unruly earth.

"Nghh..." She lost her breath in a gasp, bowing her head when a sudden pain shoot through her. Suddenly, a veil was lifted from her mind and she could sense them all. Wriggling worms, earth crawlers, moles, badgers, mice and ants, the roots of tall trees and the fine network of mycorrhizae linking fungi with its host. She threw back her head, staring at the apparition in disbelief and utter dread. "I can feel them... I can feel, everything..." Her voice was a mere whisper, ending with a groan as her body tightened in spasms. She fell over on her side, twitching and writhing on the cavern floor, every cell of her being screaming in pain and anguish as they were being ripped asunder by the forces of Earth.

The being growled.

\- THUNDER - 

High above their heads, the mountain opened its mouth with a pained moan. Darkly gray clouds, crackling with fury, scowled at the world and rained destruction down upon it. Booms of thunder rolled over the forest as lightning struck down on the vampire, burning through her body. Time seemed to slow down to nearly a halt. 

Maewyn could feel her body twitching with violent spasms, the shock of lightning stopping her heart and burning her skin to a crisp. Her eyes widened in the moment of death, as a flood of water came rushing into the cavern from one of the tunnels.  
In a matter of seconds, Maewyn's world was torn asunder. The cavern walls gave way, crumbling masses of earth and rock crashing down all around her. A large chunk of stone fell from the ceiling, crushing her leg just as the flood came crunching down on her in a roaring wave of mud and water, stealing the last breath from her lungs.

\- WHO ARE YOU -

In her mind, she saw a woman huddled up on the cave floor, an empty shell; her body broken by the chunks of granite raining down from collapsing cavern walls as a river of clay and debris stole her life. A storm raged the surface of the world, tearing trees from earth's embrace to hurl them against the mountain where they tumbled down the slopes and came crashing down into the cave. 

She seemed to float in midair, watching disaster strike, realizing her life was now forfeit. _The last of my people... _So many lives lost, snuffed out by the tempests. It seemed right to her, somehow, that her life would end like this. Her thoughts lingered on the day many centuries ago, when the earth had opened to swallow an entire village and all its people. How she alone had been spared, but for what? She had used her time to amass power and wealth, and now her years were all spent. She felt a tinge of regret. If she had only-... but it was too late now.

\- WHO ARE YOU - 

The voice lashed out again, forcing her mind back to the past. She beheld the devastation, the masses of land sliding down into the gaping mouth of the earth and with them, screaming villagers. Family. Friends. The child Maewyn stood alone-...

Wait. 

She turned her focus to her younger self, beholding the fire in the child's eyes, little hands feeding the storms more power as a cruel smile played on her lips. 

Not spared. 

She has sensed the change in the air, in the earth when the gods left the world to its fate long ago, and the balance of nature shifted. When chaos was unleashed and the skies wreaked havoc upon the lands of Norrath. She had felt the change come, and she had seized the moment. She had called the storms, unleashing their power, laughing wildly as thunder struck again and again. A child playing with her new toys, causing destruction for sheer amusement and delight.

\- WHO ARE YOU - 

And suddenly she knew the answer.

"Vengeance."

Her heart jolted and started beating. Her body shook violently, mouth and nostrils filling with mud and water, a sharp pain shooting through her as bones broke and falling rocks crashed down on her. The pain made her gasp, and more muddy water filled her lungs. 

She drew the thunderstorm into her being, until her essence was brimming with raw, fierce power. No longer merely channeling the storm, she became it, a whirlwind forming around her body. There was a whooshing sound as air was sucked into the eye of the storm, followed by an explosion resulting in a pressure wave that sent debris flying through the air. In the center of what had been a cavern, Maewyn sat up. Her skin was badly scorched, her left leg and arm broken and her clothes had melted into her skin - but she was alive. She motioned weakly with her hand, causing the winds to fade and the earth to calm under her. 

The air rippled and blurred, the shadows dispersing to reveal raw power and hatred unbound, absolute and magnificent. "My Prince..." Her voice was a coarse whisper through singed lips. She bowed her head in reverence and service, lowering her gaze before her god. His whispers boomed in her mind.

\- AVENGER - YOU SHALL NOT STRAY - YOU SHALL NOT FAIL -

Hot tears formed in her eyes, sliding down her cheeks. They wet her charred skin, the salt stinging it. "Father." Nothing seemed to matter now - not the past, not the future. This moment was all that existed. She clung to it, and to life, with all the strength she had left.

\- RIGHT WHAT HAS BEEN WRONGED - PUNISH THE CHILDREN OF THE FALSE GODS -

Her mind was a blur as she started slipping away, losing consciousness. Another voice pierced through the gray mists that seemed to creep in on her, chilling her bones. 

"Maewyn...!"


	3. Stormcaller part 3

The rain poured down heavily, the storm clawing at the man as he made his way up the mountain under a darkening sky. Wet strands of black hair stuck to Xavros's face, cold rain water streaming down it to seep into his armor. He growled as a rock gave way under the weight of his foot, causing him to slip and fall to his knees. 

Beneath him, the mountain rumbled, stirring from its slumber. _Maewyn... _She had seemed distracted lately, an absent look on her face as if her mind was somewhere else. Two nights ago, she had risen from an unruly sleep to wander restlessly from room to room, whispering feverishly. Finally, she returned to the bedroom, stopping by the window to stare out into the dark caverns of Neriak.

"Calling to me, screaming. I have to go to them. Whispers, born in the hearts of shadow and flame. Earth and sea, fire and sky. All of them dead." 

Xavros wrapped a sheet around his lower body and arose from their bed, dazed with sleep, dark eyes worried under a furrowed brow. "What is the matter, my love? You cannot sleep?" Maewyn turned around to meet his gaze, and he saw the despair and confusion in her eyes. He put his arms around her, pulling her into him in a tight embrace, caressing her hair. 

"I can't make them stop." She buried her face into his chest, her voice tight with tears. "They sing and laugh and whisper and shout and I can't make them stop."

Xavros took half a step back, cupping her face as he turned her gaze towards him. "Maewyn, look at me." His thumbs brushed the tears from her silky cheeks. "There is no one else here, just you and me. It was a dream, nothing more." It tore him apart seeing her so agitated.

"No." She ran a hand through her silvery hair, sighing through clenched teeth. "It's not. I still hear them." Her fingers now resting against her temples, she rubbed them gently, closing her eyes tightly. "My people. I have to go to them."

He knew that her entire village had been destroyed during the Rending long ago, when the surface of the world was torn apart by savage storms and violent earthquakes. He wondered what could have stirred her memories and make them haunt her so, after all this time. "Go to them?" He could feel the tension radiating off her, watching her pacing about the room, realizing how important this was to her. "Nektulos Forest... You want to leave now or when dawn breaks?" He didn't ask about what she had seen, or why she felt a sudden need to seek out those that were long dead. All that mattered to him was that her need was real, and that it was strong enough to upset her balance of mind.

She stopped her pacing, a relieved smile warming her face as her gaze met his. He always seemed to know just what to say. "Thank you. I'd like to leave as soon as possible." She hesitated, then walked over to him to wrap her arms around his waist and lean into his naked chest. "I have to do this alone."

"I know. I will be here, when you return." He kissed her head, feeling a tinge of worry.

The mountain shuddered violently, snapping him out of his reverie. Xavros struggled to get back on his feet and regain his balance, but the earthquake rippled the ground beneath him. Dazzling thunderbolts struck down, violent surges of raw power lashing out again and again at the face of the mountain, tearing large chunks of granite from its grasp. The storm reached for the chips of rock, hurling them at the Xavros in vicious fury. He hunkered down to avoid being hit, a throaty growl escaping his lips. His human eyes unable to pierce the dark night to see what lay ahead, he closed them to focus on what lay beneath him, buried in the earth.

_My people. I have to go to them._

It was not uncommon for Maewyn and Xavros to spend days, even weeks, apart as their journeys took them to various locations in Norrath. A knight and the last of his bloodline, Dierran sought to retrieve information about the origins of his family, tracing them back through time to discover more about where they came from and how the powers of undeath and decay came to be theirs. 

They both had a great need for solitude, for time away from civilization. He knew what restless hunger plagued her, the lust for power that drove the ambitious vampire to climb the society ladder while seizing every chance to learn more about her own gifts. She knew how to take care of herself, and even though she had often faced danger, her lover never feared that he would lose her. This time though, something was different. 

As the storm sunk its teeth into the mountain, Xavros focused his mind on seeking those that had been embraced by death, those whose bones rested by the roots of the mountain. If their spirits had called Maewyn to them... He frowned, a puzzled look creeping across his face. There was no paranormal activity, no trace of spirits haunting the area. He renewed his efforts, delving deeper into the layers of rock and soil. Nothing. No spirits linger here. But who...? His eyes snapped open, a cry of anguish bursting from him as a large section of the hill side above him caved in. 

"Maewyn...!"


End file.
